Vista graphics card crashing

A few weeks ago, this problem started.
Whenever I'm chatting on IMVU, or doing anything which requires lot of 3D, my screen flickers 2 or 3 times, I see everything freezed, the screen turns black, and then most of the time, after a while, it turns back and gives me a balloon message on the taskbar that the graphics' driver stopped responding and is restored.
It happens a lot.
And it gives on my nerves a lot, because when the screen returns, all 3D using programs are not responding anymore, untill I try to close it, and tell Windows Vista to wait untill it responds, then it takes about a minute or 2 to see motion again.
Sometimes the error doesn't happen at all. Sometimes it happens every 5 minutes. And I even had a blue screen once.
The only thing I was able to read was that the graphics' driver stopped responding and Windows was unable to restore it.
I tried reinstalling the driver.
But didn't help.
I own the newest version of the driver, so update is not possible.

How can I solve this?
Can anybody help me? :huh:
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    Acer Aspire M3641
    CPU
    Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Quad Q8200 @ 2.33GHz(4CPUs), ~2.3GHz
    Motherboard
    Acer MCP73PV
    Memory
    4094MB RAM
    Graphics Card(s)
    NVIDIA GeForce G100
    Sound Card
    Realtex High Definition Audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Samsung SyncMaster 923nw
    Screen Resolution
    1440 x 990 (32bit)(60Hz)
    Hard Drives
    Station #1 - WDC WD6400AAKS-22A7B (596 GB)
    Station #6 - HDT722525DLAT80 (232 GB)
    Internet Speed
    5 MB/s
read the couple of other posts right at the top right now that discuss this also. check to make sure there is good airflow in the case that there is no dust build up and things like to that to make sure it is not a temperature problem
 

My Computer

System One

  • CPU
    intel core 2 quad Q9450
    Motherboard
    gigabyte EP45-DQ6
    Memory
    8gb Gskill PC6400
    Graphics Card(s)
    Visiontek Radeon 4870x2 2GB
    Sound Card
    X-FI fatality FPS 7.1
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Viewsonic VG2230wm
    Screen Resolution
    1680X1050
    Hard Drives
    VelociRaptor WD1500HLFS 150GB 10000 RPM,
    WD CAVIAR black 750GB
    PSU
    Antec TruePower New TP-750 watt
    Case
    Cooler Master HAF932
    Cooling
    XIGMATEK HDT-S1283 120mm Rifle CPU Cooler
    Internet Speed
    comcast 16mb\second
this sounds like an issue that i have been having as well. i thought it was mainly due to the fact that my sound card crackles and makes my display driver stop. thats the good 'ol issue with creative and nvidia. but it now seems like it could be that 186.18 driver in some cases as well. i get the flickering and the blackscreen all after a while, not as fast as he said he did. but if its not only in SLI like mine, then something in the driver perhaps causes this?
 
Last edited:

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    JUST ME/Custom Built
    CPU
    Intel(R) Core(TM) 2 Quad Q9550 E0 2.83 Ghz @ 4037.5 Ghz
    Motherboard
    EVGA NFORCE 790I SLI FTW Digital PWM
    Memory
    8 Gig Corsair XMS3 DHX 1600 Mhz DDR3 CAS 9
    Graphics Card(s)
    2x GTX 480's w/ Koolance VID-NX480's
    Sound Card
    Creative SoundBlaster X-Fi Titanium (non-Fatal1ty) Edition
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Acer P243W 24" Premium Series
    Screen Resolution
    1920 x 1200
    Hard Drives
    Seagate Barracuda 7200.11 1 TB HDD 32mb cache
    (3 Platters, 6 Heads model)
    PSU
    Ultra X4 1050W PSU 76A Rated 12V SLI
    Case
    Antec 1200 Full tower ATX case
    Cooling
    x2 Thermaltake Blue LED 120mm 2800rpm fans, Zalman CNPS 9900
    Keyboard
    Logitech LX310 2.4 Ghz Wireless Keyboard
    Mouse
    Logitech LX310 2.4Ghz Wireless Laser Mouse
    Internet Speed
    32mb Download, 12mb Upload from Comcast
    Other Info
    300$ custom watercooling setup. Antec 1200 big boy Radiator, Dual bay XPSC reservoir with clear bubble window, OCZ hydropulse 800L/H 12v pump, 12 ft tygon 1/2" ID, 3/4" OD tubing, Feser One UV Green 1 L fluid. (and VID-NX480 waterblock)
read the couple of other posts right at the top right now that discuss this also. check to make sure there is good airflow in the case that there is no dust build up and things like to that to make sure it is not a temperature problem
How to check temperature?
Dust is out of the question, the computer isn't a month old
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    Acer Aspire M3641
    CPU
    Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Quad Q8200 @ 2.33GHz(4CPUs), ~2.3GHz
    Motherboard
    Acer MCP73PV
    Memory
    4094MB RAM
    Graphics Card(s)
    NVIDIA GeForce G100
    Sound Card
    Realtex High Definition Audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Samsung SyncMaster 923nw
    Screen Resolution
    1440 x 990 (32bit)(60Hz)
    Hard Drives
    Station #1 - WDC WD6400AAKS-22A7B (596 GB)
    Station #6 - HDT722525DLAT80 (232 GB)
    Internet Speed
    5 MB/s
do a search for everest ultimate and look at your temperatures with it. are you overclocking? have you tested the memory?
 

My Computer

System One

  • CPU
    intel core 2 quad Q9450
    Motherboard
    gigabyte EP45-DQ6
    Memory
    8gb Gskill PC6400
    Graphics Card(s)
    Visiontek Radeon 4870x2 2GB
    Sound Card
    X-FI fatality FPS 7.1
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Viewsonic VG2230wm
    Screen Resolution
    1680X1050
    Hard Drives
    VelociRaptor WD1500HLFS 150GB 10000 RPM,
    WD CAVIAR black 750GB
    PSU
    Antec TruePower New TP-750 watt
    Case
    Cooler Master HAF932
    Cooling
    XIGMATEK HDT-S1283 120mm Rifle CPU Cooler
    Internet Speed
    comcast 16mb\second

My Computer

System One

  • CPU
    intel core 2 quad Q9450
    Motherboard
    gigabyte EP45-DQ6
    Memory
    8gb Gskill PC6400
    Graphics Card(s)
    Visiontek Radeon 4870x2 2GB
    Sound Card
    X-FI fatality FPS 7.1
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Viewsonic VG2230wm
    Screen Resolution
    1680X1050
    Hard Drives
    VelociRaptor WD1500HLFS 150GB 10000 RPM,
    WD CAVIAR black 750GB
    PSU
    Antec TruePower New TP-750 watt
    Case
    Cooler Master HAF932
    Cooling
    XIGMATEK HDT-S1283 120mm Rifle CPU Cooler
    Internet Speed
    comcast 16mb\second
this sounds like an issue that i have been having as well. i thought it was mainly due to the fact that my sound card crackles and makes my display driver stop. thats the good 'ol issue with creative and nvidia. but it now seems like it could be that 186.18 driver in some cases as well. i get the flickering and the blackscreen all after a while, not as fast as he said he did. but if its not only in SLI like mine, then something in the driver perhaps causes this?
I dunno if it's something to do with the SLI, 'cus when I listen to music in media player, nothing changes to the song or the quality, it just keeps playing, it stops for several seconds, probably while the restore of the not responding driver is busy, but the song just resumes and continues playing.
Another reason why I don't think SLI is the issue, is because, today, I got the error 1 or 2 times.
I remember 1, and i wasn't playing any sounds at all, after the error, i just kept on using IMVU (3D chat messenger) while running WMP11 at the same time.
I didn't got an error anymore (for today)
So I think it isn't the SLI
What you mean with creative and NVIDIA?
I kinda got confused there :confused:
And do you mean like Creative (mp3-player's driver?)
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    Acer Aspire M3641
    CPU
    Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Quad Q8200 @ 2.33GHz(4CPUs), ~2.3GHz
    Motherboard
    Acer MCP73PV
    Memory
    4094MB RAM
    Graphics Card(s)
    NVIDIA GeForce G100
    Sound Card
    Realtex High Definition Audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Samsung SyncMaster 923nw
    Screen Resolution
    1440 x 990 (32bit)(60Hz)
    Hard Drives
    Station #1 - WDC WD6400AAKS-22A7B (596 GB)
    Station #6 - HDT722525DLAT80 (232 GB)
    Internet Speed
    5 MB/s
do a search for everest ultimate and look at your temperatures with it. are you overclocking? have you tested the memory?
I'm not overclocking, and what do you mean with a memory test?
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    Acer Aspire M3641
    CPU
    Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Quad Q8200 @ 2.33GHz(4CPUs), ~2.3GHz
    Motherboard
    Acer MCP73PV
    Memory
    4094MB RAM
    Graphics Card(s)
    NVIDIA GeForce G100
    Sound Card
    Realtex High Definition Audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Samsung SyncMaster 923nw
    Screen Resolution
    1440 x 990 (32bit)(60Hz)
    Hard Drives
    Station #1 - WDC WD6400AAKS-22A7B (596 GB)
    Station #6 - HDT722525DLAT80 (232 GB)
    Internet Speed
    5 MB/s
copy the error code down and post it here
 

My Computer

System One

  • CPU
    intel core 2 quad Q9450
    Motherboard
    gigabyte EP45-DQ6
    Memory
    8gb Gskill PC6400
    Graphics Card(s)
    Visiontek Radeon 4870x2 2GB
    Sound Card
    X-FI fatality FPS 7.1
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Viewsonic VG2230wm
    Screen Resolution
    1680X1050
    Hard Drives
    VelociRaptor WD1500HLFS 150GB 10000 RPM,
    WD CAVIAR black 750GB
    PSU
    Antec TruePower New TP-750 watt
    Case
    Cooler Master HAF932
    Cooling
    XIGMATEK HDT-S1283 120mm Rifle CPU Cooler
    Internet Speed
    comcast 16mb\second

My Computer

System One

  • CPU
    intel core 2 quad Q9450
    Motherboard
    gigabyte EP45-DQ6
    Memory
    8gb Gskill PC6400
    Graphics Card(s)
    Visiontek Radeon 4870x2 2GB
    Sound Card
    X-FI fatality FPS 7.1
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Viewsonic VG2230wm
    Screen Resolution
    1680X1050
    Hard Drives
    VelociRaptor WD1500HLFS 150GB 10000 RPM,
    WD CAVIAR black 750GB
    PSU
    Antec TruePower New TP-750 watt
    Case
    Cooler Master HAF932
    Cooling
    XIGMATEK HDT-S1283 120mm Rifle CPU Cooler
    Internet Speed
    comcast 16mb\second

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    Acer Aspire M3641
    CPU
    Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Quad Q8200 @ 2.33GHz(4CPUs), ~2.3GHz
    Motherboard
    Acer MCP73PV
    Memory
    4094MB RAM
    Graphics Card(s)
    NVIDIA GeForce G100
    Sound Card
    Realtex High Definition Audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Samsung SyncMaster 923nw
    Screen Resolution
    1440 x 990 (32bit)(60Hz)
    Hard Drives
    Station #1 - WDC WD6400AAKS-22A7B (596 GB)
    Station #6 - HDT722525DLAT80 (232 GB)
    Internet Speed
    5 MB/s
copy the error code down and post it here
This is the blue screen i saw once 'cus he couldn't recover the driver (note i took the picture from google, so it isn't from my pc)
post-6447-1170708158.jpg

And here's the exact error i get when it turned black and restored:
image016.png


It seems that a lot of people are having this problem with NVIDIA cards... :huh:
I hope it gets solved, and my graphics card won't kill himself
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    Acer Aspire M3641
    CPU
    Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Quad Q8200 @ 2.33GHz(4CPUs), ~2.3GHz
    Motherboard
    Acer MCP73PV
    Memory
    4094MB RAM
    Graphics Card(s)
    NVIDIA GeForce G100
    Sound Card
    Realtex High Definition Audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Samsung SyncMaster 923nw
    Screen Resolution
    1440 x 990 (32bit)(60Hz)
    Hard Drives
    Station #1 - WDC WD6400AAKS-22A7B (596 GB)
    Station #6 - HDT722525DLAT80 (232 GB)
    Internet Speed
    5 MB/s
vista has built in memory tester, go to control panel, Administrative Tools, Select the Memory Diagnostic Tool from Administrative Tools. have it run the extended test and reboot to let it run. see if your memory passes or not
 

My Computer

System One

  • CPU
    intel core 2 quad Q9450
    Motherboard
    gigabyte EP45-DQ6
    Memory
    8gb Gskill PC6400
    Graphics Card(s)
    Visiontek Radeon 4870x2 2GB
    Sound Card
    X-FI fatality FPS 7.1
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Viewsonic VG2230wm
    Screen Resolution
    1680X1050
    Hard Drives
    VelociRaptor WD1500HLFS 150GB 10000 RPM,
    WD CAVIAR black 750GB
    PSU
    Antec TruePower New TP-750 watt
    Case
    Cooler Master HAF932
    Cooling
    XIGMATEK HDT-S1283 120mm Rifle CPU Cooler
    Internet Speed
    comcast 16mb\second

My Computer

System One

  • CPU
    intel core 2 quad Q9450
    Motherboard
    gigabyte EP45-DQ6
    Memory
    8gb Gskill PC6400
    Graphics Card(s)
    Visiontek Radeon 4870x2 2GB
    Sound Card
    X-FI fatality FPS 7.1
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Viewsonic VG2230wm
    Screen Resolution
    1680X1050
    Hard Drives
    VelociRaptor WD1500HLFS 150GB 10000 RPM,
    WD CAVIAR black 750GB
    PSU
    Antec TruePower New TP-750 watt
    Case
    Cooler Master HAF932
    Cooling
    XIGMATEK HDT-S1283 120mm Rifle CPU Cooler
    Internet Speed
    comcast 16mb\second
vista has built in memory tester, go to control panel, Administrative Tools, Select the Memory Diagnostic Tool from Administrative Tools. have it run the extended test and reboot to let it run. see if your memory passes or not
Thanks for the info, I'll do that tomorrow, i'm on my old XP now.
How do i perform a temperature test with everest?
I downloaded and installed it here, to see how i should get it worked
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    Acer Aspire M3641
    CPU
    Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Quad Q8200 @ 2.33GHz(4CPUs), ~2.3GHz
    Motherboard
    Acer MCP73PV
    Memory
    4094MB RAM
    Graphics Card(s)
    NVIDIA GeForce G100
    Sound Card
    Realtex High Definition Audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Samsung SyncMaster 923nw
    Screen Resolution
    1440 x 990 (32bit)(60Hz)
    Hard Drives
    Station #1 - WDC WD6400AAKS-22A7B (596 GB)
    Station #6 - HDT722525DLAT80 (232 GB)
    Internet Speed
    5 MB/s
you also might consider a driver cleaner to uninstall your dispplay driver then reinstall the driver.
 

My Computer

System One

  • CPU
    intel core 2 quad Q9450
    Motherboard
    gigabyte EP45-DQ6
    Memory
    8gb Gskill PC6400
    Graphics Card(s)
    Visiontek Radeon 4870x2 2GB
    Sound Card
    X-FI fatality FPS 7.1
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Viewsonic VG2230wm
    Screen Resolution
    1680X1050
    Hard Drives
    VelociRaptor WD1500HLFS 150GB 10000 RPM,
    WD CAVIAR black 750GB
    PSU
    Antec TruePower New TP-750 watt
    Case
    Cooler Master HAF932
    Cooling
    XIGMATEK HDT-S1283 120mm Rifle CPU Cooler
    Internet Speed
    comcast 16mb\second

My Computer

System One

  • CPU
    intel core 2 quad Q9450
    Motherboard
    gigabyte EP45-DQ6
    Memory
    8gb Gskill PC6400
    Graphics Card(s)
    Visiontek Radeon 4870x2 2GB
    Sound Card
    X-FI fatality FPS 7.1
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Viewsonic VG2230wm
    Screen Resolution
    1680X1050
    Hard Drives
    VelociRaptor WD1500HLFS 150GB 10000 RPM,
    WD CAVIAR black 750GB
    PSU
    Antec TruePower New TP-750 watt
    Case
    Cooler Master HAF932
    Cooling
    XIGMATEK HDT-S1283 120mm Rifle CPU Cooler
    Internet Speed
    comcast 16mb\second
you also might consider a driver cleaner to uninstall your dispplay driver then reinstall the driver.
Already tried to reinstall, but when removing, my internet connection seems to be deleted as well (my network card seems to be NVIDIA too)
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    Acer Aspire M3641
    CPU
    Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Quad Q8200 @ 2.33GHz(4CPUs), ~2.3GHz
    Motherboard
    Acer MCP73PV
    Memory
    4094MB RAM
    Graphics Card(s)
    NVIDIA GeForce G100
    Sound Card
    Realtex High Definition Audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Samsung SyncMaster 923nw
    Screen Resolution
    1440 x 990 (32bit)(60Hz)
    Hard Drives
    Station #1 - WDC WD6400AAKS-22A7B (596 GB)
    Station #6 - HDT722525DLAT80 (232 GB)
    Internet Speed
    5 MB/s
on everest look at left hand side, computer. expand that branch and select sensor where it will display the temperatures of your CPU, hard drives and video card
 

My Computer

System One

  • CPU
    intel core 2 quad Q9450
    Motherboard
    gigabyte EP45-DQ6
    Memory
    8gb Gskill PC6400
    Graphics Card(s)
    Visiontek Radeon 4870x2 2GB
    Sound Card
    X-FI fatality FPS 7.1
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Viewsonic VG2230wm
    Screen Resolution
    1680X1050
    Hard Drives
    VelociRaptor WD1500HLFS 150GB 10000 RPM,
    WD CAVIAR black 750GB
    PSU
    Antec TruePower New TP-750 watt
    Case
    Cooler Master HAF932
    Cooling
    XIGMATEK HDT-S1283 120mm Rifle CPU Cooler
    Internet Speed
    comcast 16mb\second
you also might consider a driver cleaner to uninstall your dispplay driver then reinstall the driver.
Already tried to reinstall, but when removing, my internet connection seems to be deleted as well (my network card seems to be NVIDIA too)

that is because nvidia bundles all the drivers in what they call nforce drivers sets. are you using the latest nforce drivers too?
 

My Computer

System One

  • CPU
    intel core 2 quad Q9450
    Motherboard
    gigabyte EP45-DQ6
    Memory
    8gb Gskill PC6400
    Graphics Card(s)
    Visiontek Radeon 4870x2 2GB
    Sound Card
    X-FI fatality FPS 7.1
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Viewsonic VG2230wm
    Screen Resolution
    1680X1050
    Hard Drives
    VelociRaptor WD1500HLFS 150GB 10000 RPM,
    WD CAVIAR black 750GB
    PSU
    Antec TruePower New TP-750 watt
    Case
    Cooler Master HAF932
    Cooling
    XIGMATEK HDT-S1283 120mm Rifle CPU Cooler
    Internet Speed
    comcast 16mb\second
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